Devilishly Idle

Saturday, May 14, 2011

so, I've been eyein' WordPress for some time now, and finally decided to make the move after Bloggerocalypse 2011. So, if you're wanting to see the new digs and my new projects, just head yourself over to:

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

So, my little guy, due to his Autism doesn't do so hot with the question "What's your name?" He gets it occasionally, but speech that is still a little garbled/inarticulate. So, as a safety measure, we slip a soft ID bracelet/anklet on him daily whenever he leaves the house--just in case. I have hopes that no one would ever have to use it, but if it should be needed and wasn't there, I know it would eat me up.

The bracelet we had before was part of the "safety kit" from school when they took ID photos and fingerprinted the lot of them like the hardened criminals they are. And it's served us well for some time. But like many things toddler related--we sent him out one day with it, and he came back without it, and without the ability to tell us just where it might be.

Tomorrow brings the first field trip he's ever taken, and it's been buggin me for a few days that his new bracelet hasn't arrived. So off to the studio i went...

Basically, this is just a piece of nylon webbing with velcro--one end of the velcro is open to hold the id tag that i laminated (that pic didn't come out--sorry. but i think you get the idea--a piece of paper with name & numbers and whatever other tasty info one might find important.) Since Ben has his sensitivities to all things NOT cotton, Daddy suggested i cover it with some material to make it softer. SO i made a tube, inserted the webbing and sealed it up.

Then after some trial and error (velcro in the wrong place, etc) i stitched down the velcro, leaving the wee pocket. Easy peasy.

Once he got home from school i had our little Zoolander model it. He didn't even notice it--as usual. That's a good thing.

I'm toying with the idea of making these for sale--since they were so easy. So any parents let me know if you'd like to tag your kid like a celebrity on parole...

Sunday, May 8, 2011

For Mother's day, i thought i would post my Celtic BOM pattern for May. This month's pattern was about the Goddess. I chose to use a design different than that posted at Simply 2M, but the idea is the same. It is a celebration of the Mother and motherhood.

I chose a classic symbol that dates back to bronze-age asia and the goddess cultures that flourished there before the invasion of the Khurgan culture from the Russian Steppe and male-dominated religion (Gimbutas, The Pre-history of Eastern Europe). A rich symbol rejoicing in the bounty of woman, with the addition of her ties to the phases of the moon. On one side the moon waxes, on the other it wanes. It is our monthly cycle, and without clocks, it would be our one way of keeping track of the months.

I chose to place this on a multicolored spiral--a design I do not claim as my own. I saw it on some site somewhere ages ago and liked it. Many times this particular figure is adorned with a spiral over her womb, signifying the creation of life. I preferred that spiral to encompass/signify the world entire. My only regret in this design is that the yellow i chose for the moon was not as opaque as i would like, with the ricrac showing through.

I used the fusible web method for applique, and a blanket stitch with embroidery thread. I chose to echo the purple fabric of the goddess figure as the outside border, with green to symbolize the lushness of life. I outline quilted the figures, and echo quilted around the spiral.

Little by little i am gaining some skills with my machine quilting. I am happy to say this project only took me two days (not entire, but a few hours each day--one to construct and one to quilt). Practice practice practice. May the Mother continue to guide my hand...

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Here is the April Block for Betty's Blue Birds called swallow's crossing. I'm pretty please with how this one turned out. The "swallow" block was paper pieced, which is why the edges are so crisp.

The funny thing is, from this one i moved on to another BOM from Quilty Delights, and the January block was this:

This one was NOT paper pieced and one of my corners is a little crooked--but i'm hoping i'll be able to correct that when i construct the quilt.

As you can see, i also plan to make this one with a black background to change things up a bit. I'll post the other three squares once i take pics.

There has GOT to be an easier way to make quarter triangle squares! I am such a fan of creating half triangle squares without cutting the square, that now having done this block--and a few others, I want to find that easy method that won't stretch out my triangles, messing up my block! *grumble*

And would you believe it--i've actually got ONE MORE BOM that i'm doing? By the end of the year i should have 3 quilt tops assembled, 9 mini quilts created, and the blocks i created earlier this year. And i've embarked on another quilting adventure--but this one is all handwork to be done when i'm not in or don't have access to my studio. I'll post about THAT very soon!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

I determined that Ben had too many plain shirts in his wardrobe (and i had a few designs i needed to "test", so i recently had a little embroidery fest.

This design is from Urban Threads--a FAVORITE design shop with the kind fo embroidery designs you can get behind--instead of flowers, and puppies and rainbow unicorns (gag)

i COULD NOT turn down this one when Niamh advertised it. As some of you may or may not know, i appreciate the nerdy chic look, and often dress my son in this look. This design was just too cute!

I know this pic is a little fuzzy--i've got a crappy camera--deal. But basically this is just an embroidered pocket with a calculator, pen, pencil and broken horned rim glasses. ANd yes, the calc. does read 3.14. (speaking of which, you should see her Pi designs!)

I put Ben in this the other day, and he was quite a cutie. Wouldn't stand still for a pic, though.

Of course One of Ben's favorites is rockets. To be honest, I'm not sure where i got this design (i download a lot of free ones from designers). I placed it a little high on the shirt (i refuse to mark the shirt for placement because i've had situations where the mark did not come out--so sometimes my placement is a bit dodgy) This was a nice full design that didn't pucker and the bright almost neon thread showed up beautifully against the black

And of course, i had to try the peep design. This was a free design i downloaded from an embroidery forum that i frequent. (there are lot of those flowers/puppies/rainbows on that site--but an occasional gem will pop up!) This is an applique design--meaning that yellow you see is actually material that is tacked down and stitched in with the satin stitch on the outside edge. I used two layers of yellow flannel to make it soft and plump, like my favorite easter candy!

Friday, April 22, 2011

This one is from Dreamcastle Quilts, and it's entitled Betty's Blue Birds. Instead of using shades of blue, however--since i am DETERMINED to quilt down my stash--i am using scraps from the mu'u mu'u job from two years ago. Purple, White and Orange...it will be bright at least!

These are the first three blocks. I will be posting the 4th one once i get a chance to get into my studio. As it is Spring Break, my usual studio time (when Ben is in school) is currently non-existent.

This first block is called hovering hawks. Appropos as we have a few of them in the area. I should applique a black triangle on there to represent the crows that harass our local hawk...

a pretty simple square--all half square triangles and squares.

This one is called Fox and Geese--a variation on an old classic. The small triangles are called "flying geese" units, so the corner units must be the foxes. The geese are paper pieced (otherwise they wouldn't look THAT sharp!)

I really like this one, called Doves. This one was actually pretty easy because the curves are actually just applique instead of curved piecing. Something i CAN do but DON'T. I wanted to do some applique with a more open zig zag stitch as it seems very...casual to me, and i like that! Satin stitching is pretty, but too perfect. (that and this material is actually a cotton poly blend--yes, i know, a SIN in quilting, but there it is--and i wasn't sure how well it would hold up under the tension of a satin stitch)

Luckily, each of these blocks is supposed to have a border, but i wanted that color to be the same, so i'll have to get that material later when i can really look at the blocks and determine what color would work best since it will be the dominant color of the quilt. Right now, i don't even know.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Once i finished the Beltaine quilt, i decided to work the three previous quilt tops and then quilt them at a later time--since those months/holidays are over.

I should state that i am using only scraps on each of these, with the exception of the white batik background. I am deptermined to use my stash of scraps! (especially for a mini quilt!)

This one is for january, and is the sacred pentacle, representing the four elements and the spirit. This is the only one that is actually the correct size since i finally figured out the percentage to print the PDF file!

The pentacle itself is paper pieced, and then appliqued on using the sew and turn method. That was attached using a blanket stitch. The rest was done with strip sets or just strips.

This one is for February and Imbolc. This design is called Brigid's cross, as Brigid (or St. Brigid)--goddess of midwifery, among other things, is often worshipped for this sabbat. This should symbolize a broom, or grasses, thus the use of greens and browns. Mine weren't as subtle as the example on the website, but i like it just the same. The red signifies fire, which is pleasing to Brigid (think home and hearth). This was also paper pieced.

The third one, for March, is for Eostara or the Vernal equinox. Yes, its' an Eostara egg (seem familiar? should i even mention the rabbit that lays eggs?) Eostara is a celebration of spring and fertility, and i used soft pastel colors for this one, except for the border. Also paper pieced, i look forward to practicing my stippling on this one. I plan to stipple the white sections and stitch in the ditch for the rest. This is the only one for which i've planned out my quilting.